This Number of the Day pack gives multiple options for showing a number 4 ways.
It also includes anchor charts that can be used for a Calendar Math Display.

Everything is ready for Print & Go, with little prep!

Today’s Date

What it Teaches: Identifying and naming the day, month, date, and year reinforces sequence, ordinal numbers, and the structure of time. Young learners build awareness of patterns in days of the week and months of the year while practicing capitalization, spacing, and even writing conventions.

Classroom Example: Each morning, you might say, “Today is Tuesday, June 3rd, 2025.” Then, have a student helper point to the calendar and lead the class in chanting the days of the week. Challenge students to figure out what day it will be “tomorrow” or what it was “yesterday” to strengthen sequencing and comprehension.

Counting Days in School

What it Teaches: Counting the number of days in school builds place value understanding, skip counting, and number patterns. As the count increases, students naturally begin to group tens and ones, preparing them for addition and subtraction strategies.

Classroom Example: If it’s the 31st day of school, students can represent that number with 3 tens and 1 one using straws, coins, tally marks, a number line, or even base ten blocks on a place value chart. Having a variety of ways to show the same number encourages pattern recognition and reinforces multiple representations of a number.

Patterns on a Calendar

What it Teaches: Identifying and extending patterns helps build early algebraic thinking. When students recognize repeating or growing patterns, they develop prediction skills, understand sequencing, and lay the foundation for future work with equations and functions. Calendar patterns also support visual discrimination, vocabulary development, and spatial awareness.

Classroom Example: Each day, place a number card on the calendar with a specific pattern in mind. For example, an AB pattern might alternate red and blue number cards. As the month progresses, pause and ask questions like, “What color will the number 15 be?”, “What pattern do you see in the colors?”, or “Can you describe the pattern using letters?”

You can increase complexity over time with ABC, AAB, or even growing patterns such as adding one star on Day 1, two on Day 2, and so on. You can link patterns to season or holidays as well, for a thematic approach. For even more engagement, have student groups design the monthly pattern challenge for the class.

Weather & Graphing

What It Teaches: Tracking the weather introduces students to data collection, graphing, and analysis, all critical components of early math instruction. It also helps students develop observation skills and recognize seasonal trends. Over time, they begin to compare quanities, discuss more/less, and draw conclusions from visual data.

Classroom Example: Each day, a designated “meteorologist” checks the weather and updates a class weather chart or bar graph. They might record whether it’s sunny, cloudy, rainy, or snowy, using tally marks or colored squares. At the end of each week or month, review the chart with questions like, “Which type of weather did we have the most?”, “How many more cloudy days than rainy days?”, or “What do you predict the weather will be like next month?”

Students can also complete their own weather journals alongside the class graph, adding drawings, labels, or temperature recordings. These activities seamlessly build both math and science connections into your calendar routine.

Piggy Bank

What it Teaches: Incorporating money into your daily routine teaches coin recognition, value, and equivalency. It strengthens skip counting, mental math, and basic addition strategies. Over time, students internalize the value of different coins and develop strategies for counting mixed coins.

Classroom Example: Each school day, add a penny to a piggy bank display or pocket chart, to represent the days in school. As the coins build, discuss equivalent amounts, and introduce the nickel, dime, and quarter, trading out the equal amounts for larger coins. This will also lead to the natural progression of skip counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s.

For a challenge, add a mystery coin each day. This will get your piggy bank into higher numbers quicker, for advanced learners, and discussing how many coins are in $1.00 will happen naturally.

Number of the Day

What it Teaches: The “Number of the Day” builds flexible thinking, number sense, and fluency with composing and decomposing numbers. It gives students daily practice representing numbers in a variety of ways – strengthening their confidence in working with numbers across operations.

Classroom Example: Today’s Number of the Day is 24. Students can complete a Number of the Day, or “Show 4 Ways” activity.

• Expanded Form: 20+4
• Number Sentence: 12+12=24; 30-6=24
• Place Value: 2 tens rods, 4 ones cubes
• Tally Marks: four groups of 5 tally marks with four additional tally marks
• Compare: 24>22; 24<56
• Word Problem: There were 30 apples on the tree. Six fell off. How many apples are left on the tree?